


Hell's Bells

by PolarGrizz47



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, M/M, Rewritten death scene, TLL Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-19 23:05:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11908068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PolarGrizz47/pseuds/PolarGrizz47
Summary: Orca doesn't miss.





	Hell's Bells

**Author's Note:**

> Wanted to practice writing with my favs and my ships, so... here we go. I'm rusty but I hope it's isn't like scooping your eyeballs out with a spoon painful to read.

Orca could tell that he was hurt, and he was hurt  _ bad _ . It was always comforting in a way, the pain told him that he was still alive. And goddamn, if he wasn’t in pain, then he didn’t know what to call it. Agony, maybe. The thought made a smile curl upon his bloodied lips. 

His ears rang and his left side radiated with the stank of copper and the fiery jabs of shrapnel buried in his flesh. Blood was curling down his face, a deep slash under his left eye and a decent bump on his head. He blinked and grinned, leaning back against the warmth of the twisted metal from the helicopter’s side. 

“Ma’am,” Orca rasped, watching as the gun went skittering across the charred grass. He could still feel his Glock digging into his back and he let himself relax, leveling a glare at his old boss. The purple tint faded oddly with his broken shades, but he didn’t make any move to take them off. He already felt exposed as is, with half of them smashed off and his body bleeding like a stuck pig.

He couldn’t say he was surprised though. No, no he couldn’t. In fact, a part of him wanted it to end like this. Face to face with the woman who took away the only good thing -

_ Goddamnit. _

He focused, stifling a groan as he leaned back all the way, kicking his legs out. “Well, you’re looking well.”

Nadine bristled, her eyes alive with fury as she leveled the gun at her ex-lieutenant. “What the hell have you done with  _ my _ company?” 

Orca felt himself grin, his words coming easily now that he was staring face to face with his impending doom. “Made it profitable for starters,” He coughed, smiling sweetly at the look that crossed Nadine’s features, disbelief with just the right amount of hurt. Good, he thought, squeezing his fingers around the bejeweled tusk. 

He glanced down at its crystalline blue and gold features, shaking his head at his piss poor decisions. As he moved, the soft clinking of dog tags, that didn't belong to him, reached his ears. The simple sound made a faint smirk cross his features but he refused to blatantly grab at the shiny metal around his throat. It was already worn from his nervous rubbing. His good luck charm.

Chloe’s words were amusing, and he scoffed, ignoring her rhetorical questions remark. This would all be so much easier without an  _ audience _ . But he wasn’t a fool.

Through narrowed eyes, he watched the two women in front of him come to stand together, their feet moving them closer together with measured steps. It just wasn’t fair. How could Nadine actually be enjoying life after that hellish journey? After she killed - it just wasn't _fair_.

“I should’ve killed you back on that godforsaken island,” Nadine growled, taking a step closer, her hands steel-like around her weapon. 

With a painful hiss, Orca snapped before he could contain himself. “I wish you had,” His voice rose and broke off into a ringing silence. Nadine narrowed her eyes as he began slouching against the wreckage. When he looked down at the blood in his lap and the red smeared against the Tusk, Orca felt his face fall as his jovial remarks collapsed. “You turned tail and ran, ‘fore we even buried him.”

Chloe gave Nadine a sideways glance, brows raised with confusion as the late leader of Shoreline stiffened.

“Oh yeah,” Orca smirked, grasping at the dog tags that were shaken out of his vest when the crash threw him around the cabin. He held them up with bloodied fingers and grinned, flashing his reddened teeth. “Wasn’t about to leave him water clogged in some rotted ship. Not like that…” He let his thumb rub over the information that was already nearly smooth with the metal, it’s grooves and bumps bringing a comfort to his aching mind and body. He’d already remembered all the details that had been on the tags, even before he started wearing them in remembrance. 

It was always a precaution. He knew the blood type, the age, the height, the rough weight…. All of it, just in case he’d need it to help them in an emergency. 

“You got him killed,” Orca rasped, “Rushing into the ship like that. Headstrong. Angry. Triggered a trap right in his face - burnt him to a damn  _ crisp _ -”

“Don’t act so innocent,” Nadine snarled, stepping closer with her gun pointed squarely at Orca’s forehead. “You’re the one that put a gun to my back and forced my hand. I told you greed wouldn’t go well, but yet here we are. Back to your old habits. Expect it's just  _ your _ life on the line.”

“Oh, you’re cold,” Orca chuckled, voice wet with blood and rasping. He was looking pale, sweat beading along his brow. Even if Nadine spared his life, Orca knew that he’d bleed out before finding any real help. “Did you even fire any shots for him, or did you just forget about him taking that blast for you?”

“Shut up,” Nadine growled, her shoulders tensing as she shifted from foot to foot. “You have no idea what I lost on that island.”

“Hah! What  _ you _ lost?” Orca squeezed the Tusk and briefly thought about throwing it off the nearest cliff just to see if Nadine and Chloe would jump after it. “Jacob died, and you don’t even care -”

Sam watched as Nadine leveled her gun, shifted her stance and pulled the trigger without a second thought. The gunshot was ringing in their ears as Nadine twisted to turn around the sock Sam in the face. The older Drake was wild eyed and panicked, one arm pushing Nadine’s body to the side so the shot wouldn’t risk damaging their prize.

“Holy fuck - He’s still got the Tusk, you moron!” He snapped, looking at the treasure that was - thankfully - still in one piece.

Orca laughed, looking at the smoldering pock mark by his head, indented into the metal. “You two?  _ Partners _ ?” He laughed again, loud and garbled as he coughed and wheezed for air. “Either you’ve got a piss poor memory, or you’re even more  _ desperate _ than I thought.”

Sam kept his distance, rubbing at his jaw as he looked between the furious Nadine and the amused Orca. Chloe gave him a look that screamed  _ go away before you fuck us all over _ , and Sam held up his hands in mock surrender before walking a few feet away, mumbling about how he was getting shit on from every side today.

“Hah,” Nadine steadied her grip on her gun once more, “At least I’m not the one reduced to hustling weapons to a bunch of ragtag insurgents.” 

“Ah,” Orca looked up towards the sun, listening to the sounds of the train wheels clicking along the tracks in the distance. “There it is, eh? There it is.” He held up the Tusk, “You were always thinking too small.... Used a bunch of blood money mercenaries for a treasure hunt. Killed at least three-quarters of our operation, and lost one of our best men.”

Nadine growled, and Chloe held out one palm in an effort to pacify the tigress prowling in her cage. “And what would he think of you now? Just a common trader of luxuries. No blood in the sands out here, Orca. Just your regret and greed.”

Orca breathed in deeply, subduing a cough that rattled about his chest and flecked his lips with more red. He looked over at the Tusk and smiled, “You gotta admit though… it really is beautiful. He would’ve loved it.”

Nadine watched him carefully, feeling her chest ache with a memory she’d partially buried with old gold and twisted wood. She swallowed, and let her teeth bare when she whispered, “I don’t give a shit.” Orca’s face was blank but understanding as she finished, “Hand over the damn Tusk.”

He forced a faint smile and croaked, “Hell’s Bells.” With an outstretching of his arm, he gestured with the Tusk towards the train chugging towards the distance. “You’re going to miss the fireworks, man.”

Chloe turned to look towards the train with worry, and Orca smirked as he looked her up and down. Nadine had great tastes, that was for sure.

Nadine stepped closer with a furious look on her face, “I won’t ask twice, Orca.”

With a heavy, bloodied sigh, the man nodded. “Fine,” He mumbled, defeated. “But only because you asked so nicely,” He leaned forwards and ignored the pain that shot up his side as he laughed, “Catch.” Orca had his eyes on Chloe, sizing up the target as the Tusk hit the grass.

Sam looked towards the Tusk but Nadine kept her eyes fixated on her old lieutenant, waiting. 

Gunshots bounced along one another for a few horrifying seconds, Sam shouting something a bit too late as Nadine’s bullets grazed Orca’s cheek before hitting him dead center in the forehead. He slumped over, completely lifeless, the pistol sliding out of his limp grip. 

Nadine looked up from where Sam had tackled them (probably in an attempt to use her as a meat shield, she thought) and looked towards Chloe.

The mercenary felt her blood run cold as she saw the other woman lying on her side, unmoving.

Orca hadn’t been aiming at either Sam or herself. He’d been seeking revenge.

“Chloe!” Nadine shouted, surging to her feet and rushing over to the other adventurer's side. “Hey, look at me,” She whispered, rolling Chloe over onto her back as she searched the red shirt for a darker stain. She found it, spilling vibrantly over Chloe’s collarbone. Those beautiful silvery blue eyes were closed, and Nadine felt her heart pounding out of her chest as she spared one last glance over at Orca, those damn dog tags glinting in the noon sun above their heads. 

-:-

“And Asav?” Chloe whispered, voice hoarse as she looked at Nadine hovering above her worriedly. 

“Tracked the train up until the bridge. The whole thing was collapsed, took the train and its passenger - one very big bomb - over the edge into the river. No sign of any life,” Sam informed, sitting nearby as he looked over the Tusk in his hands. “Asav wasted this baby on a bomb… we are  _ so _ going to be rich and famous after this one.”

“Don’t get your hopes too high yet, Samuel,” Chloe smirked, squeezing Nadine’s hand from where she lay in the back of a borrowed jeep. “But surely the Ministry of Culture will give a generous finder's fee for our troubles.”

Sam threw his head back and laughed, “Ministry of Culture, oh man, you guys are hilarious,” He looked at the Tusk and then back at Nadine and Chloe. His smile fell as he saw their deadpan expressions, “Oh my god, you’re  _ serious _ .”

-:-

Nadine finished pounding the stake of the makeshift cross into the dirt, wiping the sweat from her brow as she gazed off the hilltop and towards the setting sun. She watched the golden rays with a content sigh, looking out across the expanse of greenery as far as the eye could see.

She left the grave unmarked, but took the metallic edge of the dog tags and looked them over. Crouched by the wooden cross, Nadine smiled at the faded words on the metal before unclipping the necklace and adding a second, then a third dog tag.

Chloe waved her closer from where she was leaning against the jeep, her shoulder bandaged and features still a bit pale, but she was alive. 

“Chase the sky, boys,” Nadine muttered, hanging the necklace over the cross before standing. She thought about sending a solitary shot into the sky, but it didn’t feel like the correct time to do so. There was still a lot to process, betrayal and grief were fickle things to deal with. 

Turning her back on the grave, she made her way back up towards Chloe. Towards a new adventure.

Three names from the past were hung on that cross. 

And hers was one of them.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments appreciated! I loved this game and I loved the new and improved THICC Orca model.


End file.
